Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Today, I was able to begin and somewhat finish a simple garden pot idea that has been bouncing around in my head for days. After my plant shopping, I have ended up with 11 tomato plants. Oy. Way too many for this deck gardener, so I will do my best to parcel some of them out before they wilt and fizzle away. But for those that will eventually produce our food, I needed to find an inexpensive and suitable way to pot them up, bearing in mind they will be on our deck. I know that tomatoes do best when planted deeply, so knew that what I had was not going to work - plain terra cotta pots and such. What I came up with was this:

A simple Home Depot bucket, food grade, to transform into a glorious tomato pot. It set me back a mere $2.78.

First, I primed it with plastic primer spray paint:

Then I used a hammered copper spray paint over the primer. I tried to get some of the orange to disappear on the inside, but it was starting to rain, so I rushed it a bit:

I really like the copper look, don't you? I mean, clearly, it's not a copper pot, but it does make you stop and look twice. Here is the planted version:

I put the handle back for easier move-ability. I purchased four of these buckets today, hoping to get them all planted (and not realizing I had 11 tomato plants). I painted and planted only 2. So tomorrow, my goal is to find homes for at least 4-5 plants, and then by the weekend, have the rest planted, either in more painted buckets, or other tremendously creative ideas.

Now for my gardening question. I have planted sweet potato vine, since I absolutely love the colors it has. My problem, that I have never experienced before, is that the green is turning purple. I have no idea why.

It is happening to all of my sweet potato vines, in each container I've planted them in. The only constant is the same organic compost/soil mixture which may possibly be a bit too rich in compost. I had thought this was a sign of comport burn, but now we're just changing colors. Any thoughts or ideas out there? Any sweet potato vine experts out there? Drop me a line/comment and help a garden girl out, won't ya?

No comments:

Mind-Body Challenge 2010

Who I Am:

We wanted to see family this summer. With the month of August off from work, and kids out of school, we decided to travel out to the West by car. Our trip will take us through some interesting experiences, and some great places as well.